Method

These health practitioners were presented with a vignette describing either a person with schizophrenia or one with depression.

The vignettes were taken from an earlier survey of the general public.

Respondents were asked to rate the likely helpfulness of various types of professional and non-professional help and of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions.

Results

Two-thirds or more of each profession agreed that the person with schizophrenia would be helped by GPs, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, antipsychotic agents and admission to a psychiatric ward.

Similarly, two-thirds agreed that the person with depression would be helped by GPs, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, antidepressants, counselling and cognitive-behavioural therapy.

However, there were also areas of disagreement.

Psychiatrists were less likely than GPs and clinical psychologists to rate psychological and lifestyle interventions as helpful, while clinical psychologists were less likely to rate specifically medical interventions as helpful. (...)